U.S. Chamber of Commerce and RecruitMilitary to Present Veteran Job Expo in Baltimore on May 24

Baltimore, MD (PR Log) April 30, 2012 – The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the military-to-civilian recruitment firm RecruitMilitary will collaborate on a hiring event for military veterans at M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens, on Thursday, May 24. This event, a Hiring Our Heroes/RecruitMilitary Veteran Opportunity Expo, will be part of a nationwide initiative to increase the hiring of veterans by producing special career fair hiring events. The event will run from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. RecruitMilitary is inviting veterans who already have civilian work experience, men and women who are transitioning from active duty to civilian life, members of the National Guard and reserves, military spouses, and other military family members.

Hiring Our Heroes events are part of a nationwide initiative launched by the U.S. Chamber in March 2011 to increase the hiring of veterans and military spouses. In the first 11 months of the initiative, Hiring Our Heroes hosted more than 100 events in 45 states and the District of Columbia. The Chamber plans 400 events in 2012.

To maximize the number of employers participating in this event as well as the job opportunities for veterans and military spouses, RecruitMilitary is offering companies that are members of the U.S. Chamber and local chambers a 10% discount on the cost of their exhibition booths. RecruitMilitary will offer further price reductions for small businesses (businesses that have less than 50 employees), and even lower rates for veteran-owned small businesses.

â€œThis is an especially great year to hire veterans â€“ new tax credits for doing so apply throughout the year,â€ said Larry Slagel, Senior Vice President of Sales at RecruitMilitary and a former captain in the United States Marine Corps. â€œThe credits are available via the Vow to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 (www.doleta.gov/business/incentives/opptax/), which President Obama signed into law in November 2011. The credits range from $2,400 to $9,600, depending on whether the veteran has a disability and how long he or she has been unemployed â€“ and they apply to individuals who begin to work for an employer from November 22, 2011, through December 31, 2012.â€

The act also established a new target group of unemployed veterans. This group is similar to a group defined in the Recovery Act of 2009, which has expired. But, under the Recovery Act, a veteran had to have left the service within 5 years of the hiring date to qualify. The Vow to Hire Heroes Act imposes no such limit.

â€œEmployers can now get credit for hiring highly skilled veterans who have many years of civilian work experience," said Slagel. "Veterans like that are heavily represented at our Expos and in our database of job candidates at www.recruitmilitary.com. We have more than 500,000 men and women with military backgrounds in the database, and we add roughly 300 per day.â€

RecruitMilitary will produce the expo in Baltimore in cooperation with The American Legion (http://www.legion.org), an association of veterans who served during times of war. The Legion has 2.4 million members in nearly 14,000 posts throughout the world. Congress chartered the association in 1919. The national commander is Fang A. Wong of East Brunswick, New Jersey. Wong retired from the United States Army as a chief warrant officer in 1989. The Commander of the Department of Maryland is Melvin G. Smullen, who retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel.

RecruitMilitary has produced Opportunity Expos since 2006. The company also offers subscriptions (search licenses) to its database of registered candidates, retained hiring services, and advertising space in online and print media. RecruitMilitary distributes more than 36,000 copies of each issue of Search & Employ, a bimonthly print magazine, to over 220 military bases throughout the world, National Guard and reserve units, and job seekers who attend Hiring Our Heroes/RecruitMilitary Veteran Opportunity Expos.

In November 2011, RecruitMilitary received the First Annual Lee Anderson Small Business Veteran and Military Spouse Employment Award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber recognized RecruitMilitary as a specific business that has â€œgone above and beyond to honor the sacrifices our military families make in their service to our nation.â€

In February 2012, RecruitMilitary received the first annual One More Way Award from The Sierra Group Foundation. The foundation established the award to recognize people or companies whose support results in awareness and job opportunities for people with disabilities. The Sierra Group Foundation (http://www.thesierragroup.com/foundation.htm) is a non-profit organization whose mission is â€œto drive up employment for people with disabilities, including veterans.â€

The U.S. Chamber (http://www.uschamber.com) is the worldâ€™s largest business federation, representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations. The Chamberâ€™s mission is â€œto advance human progress through an economic, political, and social system based on individual freedom, incentive, initiative, opportunity, and responsibility.â€ More than 96% of U.S. Chamber members are small businesses with 100 employees or less. The Chamberâ€™s strategic partners in its Hiring Our Heroes initiative include the Department of Laborâ€™s Veteransâ€™ Employment and Training Service (VETS; www.dol.gov/vets) and Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR; www.esgr.org).